Five Towns Letters to the Editor

We need the road overhaul project

To the Editor:
State Assemblywoman Melissa Miller’s comments on the Park Street/Beech Street project in last week’s (Oct. 19) Herald story “Evacuation route to be overhauled” were troubling.

Since Miller was not involved with the Atlantic Beach/East Atlantic Beach Community Reconstruction Zone over the past several years, the following is an effort to enlighten her. When the Governor’s of Office Storm Recovery created the zones, the East Atlantic Beach Taxpayers Association was granted seats at the table. This allowed the group to represent the interests of East Atlantic Beach residents in the recovery process after Hurricane Sandy.

Of the many ideas that were considered, the Beech Street project was prioritized and approved. Over the years, there have been numerous meetings and opportunities for everyone to participate and comment on the project. The members of the CRZ tirelessly continued to move this and other projects forward, with the firm belief that our communities would be better off as a result.

East Atlantic Beach residents were concerned about the deterioration of Beech Street years before Sandy. They worried about the condition of the foundation of the road, and the lack of safety, as evidenced by numerous accidents, resulting in property damage, injury and loss of life.

In the years since the storm, we have seen a troubling increase in traffic through East Atlantic Beach moving at unsafe speeds, with drivers perhaps unaware that they are traveling through a residential neighborhood.

The project also addresses deficiencies in drainage in the area, as well as damage to homes due to excessive vibration caused by erosion of the roadway. The remedies the project offers not only are critical to East Atlantic Beach residents, but also address concerns about Beech Street properly functioning as an evacuation route for the entire barrier island.

As representatives of Governor Cuomo’s office, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, County Legislator Denise Ford and the members of the CRZ can all attest, this critical project will repair damage, mitigate future problems, create a safer residential environment and address the needs of everyone on the barrier island and its neighbors.

The East Atlantic Beach Taxpayers Association extends an invitation to Miller to meet with us so that we might impress upon her the importance of this project, and her unwavering support of it.

Eric Landsman
Board member, East Atlantic Beach Taxpayers Association

Asking for rethink on roadway project

To the Editor:
Thanks to the Herald for the kind article about me in the Sept. 21-27 issue, “Service runs in his blood.”

I am writing today about last week’s story (Oct. 19) “Evacuation route to be overhauled.” As you reported in your article about me, I’ve been in the business of saving lives for many years, and I believe with all my heart that this plan to reduce our main roads from four to two lanes is an invitation to disaster.

Atlantic Beach has no fire department. We rely on Long Beach to provide aid in the shortest amount of time, along with our ambulance and emergency equipment. We’re all volunteers, and must first get from our homes (or elsewhere) to our headquarters, and then go where our aid is needed. We often need mutual aid from neighboring communities, and often give it in return.

Minutes and seconds count, as does every life. Can you imagine trying to get a fire truck or ambulance around the bumper-to-bumper traffic going through our village, especially in the summer, with all the beach clubs? This will cost lives. They could be yours or mine.

I beg the planners to rethink this plan, and please give our responders, visitors and residents a little more consideration.

Murray Schaffner
Atlantic Beach

Roadway plans needs improvement

To the Editor:
I am opposed to the reduction of traffic lanes on Park Street in Atlantic Beach (“Evacuation route to be overhauled”). It will not solve the traffic problem. Rather, it will increase traffic congestion and motorists’ frustration levels.

And what about the access for emergency evacuations and response vehicles through the area? How are barrier island residents served better by being boxed in when there are heavy traffic situations?

The better plan would be to take, by eminent domain, about 10 feet of property along the parking lots of the beach clubs on the south side of the existing roadway to create a sidewalk and bicycle lane.

Further, why isn’t the troublesome Atlantic Beach Bridge part of the plan? Part of the traffic mess is the toll booths, which slow motorists and create a need to speed up toward the bridge. The toll booths should be knocked down, as is being done at other New York bridges and tunnels. Even better, get rid of the patronage-supported toll system.

Jack Smythe
Long Beach